Kenryoku
by DigiDudette
Summary: 25 years have past since Ultimacia's defeat. Will the hidden power within the soul of Amy Leonhart be revealed to the world before she is ready to face her destiny?
1. Beginning of New Strength

_'Life is never as simple as you want it to be. Sure, it's great having a famous dad and all, but sometimes he's too protective over me. I guess he's still missing mom, even though it was 5 years ago. But, even so, I miss her too...'_

"Amy, are you listening to me?" She perked up as she heard her instructor's voice directed right at her. She looked up, brushed some of her light brown, blonde streaked hair out of the way and looked directly into the eyes of Selphie.

"I'm sorry, Instructor." she replied apologetically. "I was just thinking about something." Selphie sighed and walked back to the front of the class.

"Amy Leonhart, you're never going to pass your exam tomorrow unless you listen to me." Turning to face all of her students, she looked around the room. "Who can tell Miss Leonhart what we were discussing just now? Leon, could you explain?" Amy turned around in her chair and looked at a boy with short, deep brown hair that was gelled back. He had a cheeky grin on his face and was looking directly at Selphie.

"Of course, mother." he replied in a posh accent, the other students laughing as he kept his smirk on his face. Selphie smirked back at him.

"Very funny Leon. _Now_ could you explain to her what we were talking about?"

"Sure." he said simply. "We were revising how to use GFs best in battle, and how to take care of them if they're injured."

"Thank you." she replied, sitting down and looking around the room again, her eyes falling on Amy again soon after. "Okay, that's it for now, remember to study GF abilities for tomorrow!" she called over the teens as they noisily left the classroom. Amy was the first to leave, running to the cafeteria in hopes of getting something good before the backup supplies came, whatever they were.

"Amy, wait!" She spun around and saw a blonde shorthaired girl running after her.

"Yo Keera, what's up?" she asked, smiling.

"You goin' to the lunchroom?" she asked, brimming with energy. It was one of the many things that made Keera Dincht a lot like her father. That and she used her fists to fight.

"Where else? Com'on!"

"I hope they have some hotdogs left!"

"That's all you eat! Give it a rest, Keera!"

"So," Keera started, putting her glass down on the table. "are you ready for the exam tomorrow?"

"Totally!" Amy replied excitedly. "But daddy says he's going to help if anyone gets into trouble."

"He won't let anything bad happen to you then."

"I know..." she sighed. Keera looked puzzled.

"What's up?" she asked curiously. "I thought having the infamous Commander Leonhart as you dad would be great!"

"Not exactly." she replied quietly. "You see, it's-"

"Yo dudettes!" Keera smiled as Leon sat down on their table with his meal, and Amy groaned. Leon Kinneas was her friend, but was very annoying at the same time. He was also considered the best-looking SeeD candidate for that year, so all the other girls were looking at him as well. "So, what ya doin'?"

"I was just leaving." Amy said bluntly, standing up and walking out of the area. Leon stared after her, confusion written on his features.

"What's up with her?" he asked Keera, turning to face her.

"I think it has something to do with Commander Leonhart." she replied to him quietly.

"Her dad? Why?"

"I don't know, but she seemed really down about him coming with the candidates during the exam."

"Amy, there you are!" A voice called after her. _'Great, what does he want now?'_

"Yes daddy?" she asked, putting on a fake smile. It was convincing enough for Squall though. A lot had changed in the 25 years that had passed since the battle against Ultimecia. Squall looked a lot more like Laguna, while still keeping his own style. (DD: Very cute in Kingdom Hearts, ne? ^~)

"How goes the training for the exam tomorrow?" he asked, almost sounding serious, which wasn't the case when talking to his daughter.

"Err, it's goin' fine." she answered cheerfully. "But won't people notice that I'm-"

"Don't worry." Squall whispered to her. "You're with your friends, Keera and Leon. Quistis and I arranged it especially." Amy beamed at her father, then hugged him.

"You're the best, daddy!" she cried happily. Squall smiled slightly.

"You'd better get back to training then. Do you need any help summoning your magic?"

"Daddy," she started, smirking. "it's my best way of attacking, of course I know how to summon magic properly!"

"If you say so." Squall looked around the area, then back at Amy. "Have you seen Leon anywhere? I wanted to see if he needed anymore gunblade practise."

"He's in the lunchroom." Amy replied simply. She started to walk away. "I'll go get him."

"Great!" Squall called after her. "Meet me in the Training Centre in 15 minutes!"

Arriving in the lunchroom, she instantly found who she was looking for. _'Just as usual, where all the girls are.'_ Walking towards him, she grabbed the sleeve of his arm and dragged him off. "Come on Romeo, we have training to do."

"With who?" Leon asked, confused.

"With daddy, dumbass!" she answered back irritably. Leaving the lunchroom, he pulled himself away from her.

"Man, what's up with you?" he asked her, staring at her straight in the eyes. "You've been acting really strange lately." Amy sighed, then started walking towards the Training Centre, Leon following soon after.

"I'm sorry Leon." she replied quietly. "Daddy's going to do whatever it takes to make sure I'm not hurt in the exam tomorrow. It may seem great, but it's really annoying me." Leon smiled.

"No problem, when you're a SeeD, you can do what the hell you want!" he replied cheerfully. Amy smirked.

"Let's go then."

"You've definitely improved your technique, Leon." Squall said as they finished their first round of training. "But footwork needs to be perfected. Think you can handle it for tomorrow?"

"Show me and I'll do it." Leon said, smirking. "I'm a fast learner." With that, the second round commenced. Amy stood at the outskirts of the area, watching them with great amusement, but great boredom at the same time. _'This isn't too bad, but what am I supposed to do?'_ she asked herself. Looking around, she decided to head off and fight some monsters while Squall and Leon were busy. _'I didn't realise what a nice atmosphere this place had. But I don't understand where the monsters are. And why are Leon and daddy fighting were monsters could attack them at any time? Oh well, no matter.'_ She spun around as she heard a low growling noise.

"Who's there?" she asked suddenly. There was no answer. She walked further into the centre. "Leon? Daddy? Is this a joke?" There was silence. Then, she screamed when a dinosaur monster a foot taller than herself jumped out of a clump of hedges and lunged at her. She ran as fast as she could to get back to Squall and Leon, but the creature managed to close the gap between them quickly, then swung its tail and hit her in the back, knocking her to the ground. She twisted around and rolled out of the way as the T-rexaur tried to throw its head down to bite her. Getting up, she ran in the only direction she could go, then ended up at a dead end. "Damnit!" she cursed loudly. 

Backing off against the wall, the monster closed in on her and raised its head to finish her off. Lunging towards her, she shut her eyes tightly. It was struck from behind and Amy could feel one of its teeth slicing its way down the side of her left cheek. Opening her eyes again, she held her cheek and looked up, seeing Squall and Leon attacking the T-rexaur, both using their gunblades to the best of their abilities. Finally, with a slice down the neck by Leon, nearly taking the head off, it fell to the ground, dead. Squall ran over to his daughter and hugged her tightly.

"I thought I was going to lose you too when I heard that scream!" he said, trying not sound upset. Amy smiled, then removed her hand away from her cheek and Squall saw cut down her face. "Come on, let's go to the infirmary." he said, smiling as she was alright. Looking at Leon, Amy smiled also.

"Thank you for helping daddy." she said gratefully. A smirk rose on his face.

"Anything for you, m'lady." he said, bowing before her in a joking manner. They walked off towards the infirmary.

"Well, like father, like daughter." Kadowaki sighed as she held a piece of bandage to her cheek with some tape. "Your father got his scar the morning of the exam, so I guess you didn't cut it so fine."

"Thanks doctor." Amy said, smiling. Leon was stood outside, waiting for Squall and Amy. The commander sighed as he sat down next to his daughter.

"Why didn't you attack?" he asked, Amy feeling his eyes burning into her mind.

"I-I didn't think. I'm sorry daddy." she said quietly.

"You can't be a SeeD unless you think, Amy!" Squall said angrily. "What if Leon and I weren't there, you'd have been dead!" He looked at her softly and spoke quieter. "Then I would have lost you to a T-rexaur too. I don't think I could've taken that."

"That was a large T-rexaur though." Amy added. "The one today wasn't as powerful."

"But it still had the ability to kill." He was silent for a moment. "Rinoa should have run while she had the chance." he sighed, looking away from her.

"Maybe I shouldn't have left her." the brunette said quietly.

"Maybe you shouldn't think like that." Squall said, putting his arm around her and smiling. He got up and looked around the sterile room, sighing. "Stay here for a couple more hours, then you should be fine."

"Okay daddy." Amy replied, smiling slightly. As Squall left, Leon entered.

"You still okay for the exam tomorrow?" he asked, still smiling. _'It's unnatural for someone to smile that much, isn't it?'_ Amy thought.

"Of course." she replied simply. She took the bandage off of her face, revealing a scar that looked similar to Squall's, except in a different place. "I don't need this either!"

"Good thing it ain't still bleedin'." Leon said unusually brightly.

"Yea, I know." She stood up. "Com'on, we still have training to do."

"Amy, I gotta ask you somethin'." Leon said after silence as they walked into the Training Centre again. "How come I've never seen you use a weapon?" Amy hesitated.

"I, err, I guess my strong point's magic." she laughed nervously, then sighed. "It's because I don't have a weapon, but look at this!" She held out her hand and white energy formed around her hand.

"Wow, how did you-?"

"I can't tell you that." she replied darkly. "What I can say is that when I do this, it lets me use the most powerful spell known to date. It's pure energy, and there's no element to it." She looked from it up to Leon and smirked. "I can use these spells infinitely and that's why I don't need a weapon." Leon stayed silent for a while.

"Well, if you can't tell me, I guess that's cool." He turned to leave the centre. "Screw the training, let's go." Amy nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"Okay." She followed him out. "I will tell you someday." she said finally. "But not now."

"I know." Leon replied. "Everything always comes out in the end."


	2. An Exam Gone Wrong

A/N: Okay, I have some explaining to do 'cus of the couple of reviews I did get last chapter::

_Draco:_ lol, I completely missed that! Don't worry, I sorted it and I'll do my best to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Oh, BTW, I'm not really gonna think about addin' the li'l words I missed out 'cus 1. It would take AGES for me to find 'em, and 2. It doesn't really ruin the chapter like that other mistake I made.

_trapt-tears:_ Man, a lot of explaining to do here. I guess all of that has to do with what happened to Rinoa. After she'd gone, Squall learned to express emotion more, but he only seems to do it when Amy is concerned. Amy calls him daddy 'cus of a couple of reasons: Rinoa's death made her closer to Squall, and from what I've seen, teenagers that call their dads 'daddy' normally don't have their mum around much. Also, if she calls him daddy she could get away with practically anything! lol The other thing (sorry if I'm borin' ya) is that Squall wouldn't have wanted Amy to grow up like him, having everyone close to her leaving. So, after Rinoa was gone, he had to show he cared for her so she knew she wasn't alone and that he was there to listen to her. Plus, she's been calling him that for years, so he's used to it. And, yes, she is 17 years old, so this chapter is the day of the exam #points to chapter title# Well, I hope that filled in a couple of gaps. Thanx so much for the review.

A room filled with computers, lit-up panels and strange capsules leading to an eerily fire-lit room where a man with short, deep brown hair sat on his elaborate throne-like seat. He had his head down and his eyes closed, as if in some kind of trance. He opened his eyes slowly, then looked up and around the room. A man was stood before him dressed in a suit that would identify him as having a high-ranking status.

"Sir, have the plans for tomorrow been devised?" he asked, a hint of caution in his voice. The man smiled.

"Everything is devised, captain. We will attack the Shumi village and make it the place for the SeeD exam to take place. If that isn't the case, we will use the draw point to collect what we need." He sighed, then stood up and walked towards the man. "It would be more preferable if the original intention was fulfilled."

"And what will that plan involve?" the captain asked nervously. The man smiled maliciously.

"Get that girl and bring her to me. Tell every soldier to look out for the girl who has no weapon and only uses ultima spells. No one must know where she is when we get her, understood?" The captain nodded and left the room.

"Alright," Selphie yelled over the noise of the crowd the next morning. "here are the squads for everyone participating in the exam!" A few groups down, she smiled. "Leon, you're with Keera and Amy. You'll be the captain of the team. Go and wait by the front gate."

"Yes!" Leon punched the air, then looked at Selphie. "See ya mom!" he cried as he ran off with Amy and Keera following.

Arriving at the front gate, they found Squall stood there. Amy ran up to him. "Hi daddy!" she said happily. Squall smiled slightly.

"Come on you three, in the car!" he said to them, so they followed him and the bus set off. It led them to the landing sight where the Ragnorok was.

"Why are we here, Commander?" Keera asked curiously, looking out of the window of the car at the huge aircraft, then looking at the gloves she wore over her fists, flexing her fingers.

"There was a call from the Shumi village this morning. Normally they wouldn't use communications devices to people outside of the village, but it they explained that an unknown army had attacked their village and they didn't have the resources to stop them. They needed our help, so here we are. The Ragnorok will take you there before any major damage can be done." The vehicle stopped. "Come on, it's near show time."

Boarding the Ragnorok, Amy found it seemed a lot bigger inside than it looked outside. "Wow, this place it huge!" Keera cried excitedly, looking around at the candidates already sat down in their seats. Sitting down, she sighed and relaxed. "Well, this is it!" she said, stretching. Amy sat next to her and smiled.

"Let's hope we're up to it." she answered, sighing and sinking into her seat.

"Nervous, are we?" Keera teased. "Remember, you got you're dad here, and if he's anything like my dad, he'll do whatever he can to make sure nothing bad happens to you!"

"Okay team, you ready?" Leon asked, determination evident in his face as they departed the Ragnorok and arrived outside the Shumi village.

"Ready!" Keera replied enthusiastically.

"As always!" Amy added. They set off along with the other teams toward the main gates. Entering, they saw heavily injured Shumis trying to defend the only draw point they had in their village. _'It must be important to them.'_ Amy thought as the three rushed in while the other teams headed for the main part of the creatures' home.

"Leave those Shumis alone!" Leon yelled, leaping into the air and slicing one of the soldiers down the chest, instantly killing him. Amy and Keera decided to take down another one of the guards together. In a second, Amy hands where bright with the same energy she had summoned to Leon earlier, and Keera got into a fighting stance. The soldier took a step back, then spoke into a communicator on the back of his wrist.

"It's the girl!" he said as quickly as possible. "The one you told us to get, she's outside the lift near the ultima draw-" Amy shot her hand forward and the ultima spell shot directly into his chest. He fell backwards to the ground, and Keera lifted him up by grabbing his shoulder, then hit him in the face with her metal knuckles, causing a broken nose and an instant knockout. She looked at Amy.

"How'd you do that thing with your hands?" she asked her, surprised that she had never seen it happen before.

"I'll explain later!" she called back in response. Running up to her friend, she struck him again at the chest, and he stopped breathing.

"Hurry up you two!" They looked around and found that Leon had killed another 3 soldiers while they killed only the one. _'What a flippin' show off!'_ Amy thought, groaning mentally. Amy ran over to the Shumis, only to find that they had all died during the time it took to kill the soldiers.

"Damnit..." she said grimly. "We couldn't save them."

"So, what now, _squad leader_?" Keera asked as he walked over to the girls. "You killed all of the other soldiers and the Shumis here are dead." Amy sighed, and the energy faded from around her hands.

"We'll head outside and make sure no other soldiers are coming." Leon decided.

"Right." Amy and Keera agreed. They walked out of the main gates again and into the walkway to the entrance. Looking to the horizon, they saw an aircraft fast approaching the area. "Get ready, there may only be one, but this is going to be some battle." Upon landing, 10 troops wearing a more advanced type of armour as the soldiers fought previously ran out of the craft and towards the three teens. Leon and Keera attacked them, but their target seemed to be Amy. She ran off a distance and the energy reappeared around her hands. She fired beam after beam of ultima spells, but they barely damaged these particular soldiers' armour. Amy cried for help as one of the men grabbed her arm.

Squall was sat in the Ragnorok with Selphie, who had come with him. He was looking out of the window toward the Shumi village when he saw a familiar energy blast hitting an opponent. He then saw a man grab the caster of that spell. "Amy?" he wondered, getting off of his seat. Selphie looked at him.

"What?" she asked, looking out of the window. "Who's that man got hold of?" Squall picked up his Lionheart and ran toward the ramp toward the other end of the Ragnorok. "Where are you going?"

"I think it's Amy, come on!" he ordered. Selphie got stood up and ran after him, nunchakus at the ready.

Keera managed to get the soldier off of Amy with some well-timed punches and kicks. She grabbed the brunette's hand and they ran off out of the way of the other guards as Leon took them out before they could get to her again. "I can't hold 'em off much longer!" Leon cried as the two girls could see how weakened he looked from all the soldiers he had had to face. Another troop member picked up a piece of rubble from when they ha destroyed a pillar previously. He threw it and it hit Leon in the side of the head, sending him flying to the side and knocking him out.

"Leon!" Amy cried. The soldiers easily batted Keera out of the way, then went for Amy again. She felt like they were crushing her as they closed in on her and one man grabbed her in a headlock. Seconds later, the guards flew out of the way as Squall and Selphie attacked them with all the strength they had.

"Daddy?" Amy gasped as man's grip on her was loosened. She managed to get away from them and ran towards him.

"Amy, stay with Selphie!" he ordered. She nodded and ran to her. Squall ran over to Leon, and Keera followed suit. The commander studied the injury on the side of his head.

"Is he alright?" Selphie asked worriedly. Squall turned to face her.

"He should be fine, but he needs to get out of here." He turned to Keera. "Take Leon back to the Ragnorok." he said to her as the soldiers that were still alive regained their senses and commenced their attempt to get Amy. Squall ran toward Amy and prepared for another fight.

"Stop!" The entire troop went dead in their tracks at the command that seemed to emerge from nowhere. A man appeared from what appeared to be a warp. His short deep brown hair blew in a non-existent wind. Squall tightened his grip on his gunblade. "They're not very good, are they?" he asked in a smooth voice while looking at the soldier as they stood still. "I was going to come sooner but I had things to attend to first."

"What do you want with Amy?" Squall demanded. The man smirked.

"That doesn't need to be known right now." he answered smoothly. An energy looking exactly the same as what Amy has used encased his hands, and he fired a shot directly at Squall, knocking him to the ground.

"Daddy!" Amy cried, Selphie having to stop her from running to him.

"He'll be fine, just stay here." she whispered to the teen.

"'Kay..." Amy replied uncertainly, not taking her eyes off of her father. He got off of the ground and charged at the man, but his attack was deflected, causing him to back up a few paces.

"You're not even putting up much of a fight!" he sneered.

"Who are you?" Squall demanded.

"You don't know who I am?" he asked mockingly. "I'm hurt. My name is Ryoku, and if you don't mind..." He let off a huge blast of energy that hit Squall, Selphie and Amy. Before the commander could recover from the attack, Ryoku held out his hand and Amy started walking towards him.

"Amy, what are you doing?!" Selphie exclaimed as she stopped next to the man.

"Oh, look at the time. Must go, bye!" He and Amy disappeared into the same warp in which he appeared.

"AMY!!" Squall screamed, running over to where they had disappeared. Looking around desperately, he found that the soldiers had gone too. "I...I let her down..." Selphie walked up to him.

"We'll get her back, don't worry." she said, trying to reassure him. "We'll head back to the Ragnorok and get Keera to tell all of the candidates to head back immediately. I'm sure they'll understand the situation." Squall nodded grimly and headed back with Selphie.

"Keera, call everyone back." Selphie said bluntly. The girl looked puzzled.

"Where's Amy?" she asked anxiously.

"We'll explain later," Selphie answered. "just call everyone back." She nodded and headed toward the Shumi village. Selphie walked up to Leon, who was lying on one of the back seats.

"He was great, I saw him fight out there." she said, smiling. Squall nodded.

"The last time I saw a gunblade used that well was with Seifer." he added, sighing.

"And you." she said, facing him. "He learnt everything he knows from you." Squall was silent. All they had to do was wait until everyone was safely on the Ragnorok, then they would find Amy.

"So...she's gone?" Leon said quietly, hardly believing what he was hearing. He was sat in the infirmary and had just had his head seen to as Selphie explained what had happened. He had mild concussion, so it was harder to make sense of things, and he was also suffering from exhaustion from the previous fight.

"We don't know where she is, but Squall is doing whatever he can to find her." Selphie replied grimly. Leon sighed, then stood up. "Where do you think you're going?" she demanded.

"Mom, I have to help Commander Leonhart find Amy." he said decisively. Selphie groaned.

"This is all your father's fault." she said, rubbing the side of her head. "You're just like him for making impulsive decisions." Leon smiled.

"So you'll let me go?" he asked brightly.

"I let Irvine do what he wants, why should I treat you any different?" she asked herself.

"Thanks mom! Don't worry, I'll be careful." He ran out of the room, and Selphie left at walking pace.

"Commander Leonhart!" the teen yelled as he went up the lift and ran off it towards him. Looking around, he saw Zell, Quistis, Irvine and Nida. "I'm here to help you find Amy!"

"There's nothing we can do for now." Squall answered grimly. Irvine looked at Leon.

"Heard you busted yourself out there trying to protect her." Irvine said, almost as if interrogating him.

"Yea, I guess." he answered nervously. Irvine smiled.

"Just like me, going through anything for a lady!" he said cheerfully. Leon smirked.

"You never did anything like I did for a girl, you just chased them everywhere!" Irvine went red as the other SeeDs started laughing at him.

"So, you wanna help to then?" Zell asked as everyone was quiet again. "Keera asked too, but I told her it'd be too much for her to handle."

"I can handle it." Leon answered. "Just like I did with those guards."

"Fine." Quistis said, smiling at the teen. "We need all the help we can get."

"Thanks Headmaster." Leon said gratefully. Squall looked at him, then sighed.

"Any ideas then?"


End file.
